The Jakarta Post, 8/15/2006 11:15:01 AM
Undersea earthquake strikes off Maluku
JAKARTA (AP): A strong earthquake struck in eastern Indonesian waters on
Tuesday, a meteorological agency said. A local official said there was no threat of a
destructive tsunami, and no damage or causalities were immediately reported.
The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 6.1, was centered beneath the
Banda Sea around 188 kilometers (117 miles) southwest of Ambon, the capital of
Maluku province, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.
The tremor was not felt by residents in the region and there were no reports of
damage or casualties, said Aprilianto, an official at a Jakarta-based local
Meteorological and Geophysics Agency.
The quake did not have the potential to cause a destructive tsunami, he said.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its
location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," a string of volcanoes and fault lines
encircling the Pacific Basin. (**)
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
